Automatic safety railway system.



H. W. RICHARDS.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.2.1916.

1,268,879, v PatentedJune1L1918.

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H. w. RICHARDS. AUTOMATIC SAFETY RAILWAY SYSTEM. APPILICATION FILEDSEPT-2.1916.

1 ,268; 879, Patented June 11, 1918.

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WITNESS: INVENT 01?:

HARRY WISE RICHARDS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAN'D.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY RAILWAY SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 111, 1918.

Application filed September 2, 1916. Serial No. 118,249.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known .that I, HARRY i/Visn RIGH- nos, residing at Baltimore,State of Maryland,'have invented a new and usefulAutomatic SafetyRailway System, of which the following is a specification. i

The objects of my invention are, first, to prevent collisions onrailroads; second, to prevent wrecks caused by broken or spread rails;third, to avoid depending upon the thoughtfulness and activity of ahuman being.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings,

Figure 1 shows the track arrangement; elevation of stop rails shown at 5Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows second set of rails shown at 6 Fig. 1; Fig. 4 showsthe construction of these rails; Fig. 5 shows the wire connections oftheengine; Fig. 6 showsconstructlon of lllSllliLl'iing jolnt shown at 1 and2 Flg. 1;

Fig. 7 shows construction of switch boX placed under engine is at Fig.8; Fig. 8 shows location and arrangement of engine apparatus; Fig. 9shows attachnientto rail that will cause a spreadrail to short circuitthe track battery and cause a stop effect; Fig. 10 shows attachmenttothrottle;

Fig. 11 shows plan and end view of apparatus to close throttle, as at 42Fig. 8; and Fig. 12 shows construction of valve box and light as shownat 41 Fig. 8. j i

The roadway apparatus is shown in Fig. 1, in which 1 and 2 areinsulating joints. The battery 4 is connected at the end of the block at2, while two sets of rails 5 and 6 and the resistance 3 are connected tothe entrance of the block at (C l 77 placed far enough a back of therail 6 sowhen stop is effected by the 5 rail, the train'will come to astop before reaching the entrance of the block at 1 The construction ofthis rail is shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Two rails running parallel witheach other, 15 and p is about two inches higher than track. Be-

reaches the 5 rail the block is The arrow shows the direction oftraflie. The stop rail 5 is stop 4 tween 8 and 9 is a rise of an additional two inches. From 9 to 10 is therefore about four inches higherthan track. From 1O to 11 there is a drop of two inches, back to thelevel of 7 to 8- 11 and 12 are on same level as from 7 to 8 j The rail 6is placed just outside the entrance of the block at 1, Fig. 1. Theconstruction is similar to the sto rail 5 the difference being that from13 to 14 Fig. 3, is on a level about two inches above track, and has nohigh portion as in Fig. 2.

A train on the track anywhere between 1 and 2 hort-circuits battery 4and prevents current from flowing through rails 5 and 6 causlng a stopto be effected of another train 011 reaching the 5 rail.

l/Vhen the train comes to 'a stop the engineer must reset his apparatusand then run him signal to proceed. If when a train clear, current willbe flowing in the 5 rail and no stop will be effected.

The resistance 3 is simply a few turns of wire around an iron which isto complete the circuit of battery 4 without short-circuiting it. a

An insulating joint in the railis shown in Fig. 6. These joints areplaced in the rail to prevent current of one block flowing into another.A small space 25 i left between the ends of the rails so they do nottouch. A piece of insulating material 26 the full length of the joint isfitted to each side of the rails. Iron castings 2r and 28 are placed oneach side of the ends of the rails, and castings attached to ends of onerail'do not touch the castings on end of other rail. Bolts holdinsulating material andcastings firmly to rail. An iron plate 29 isplaced under each end of castings and joins castings on one side of railwith one 011 the other. Bolts or spikes pass through casting andplateinto the tie.

If there is a break in arail between 1 and 2 Fig. 1, the battery circuitis broken and there will be no current in the stop rail and a stop willbe effected.

A device for detecting a spread rail is shown at Fig. 9. It consists ofa casting 43 which is cast into a point at 44, spiked or bolted to thetie. This casting is connected by a wire 45 to the rail oppocore, theobject of plate site. If the rail should spread more than the distanceallowed it will press against the point at and cause a short-circuit ofthe track, and a stop will be effected at the 5 rail.

The arrangement of the engine equipment is shown in Fig. 8. It consistsof the switch box with contact rods 10 the valve box and light signal 41and the throttle attachment 4-2 The switch box is placed under theengineand the rods adjustedso contact shoes on end of the contact rodswill hang about 1% inches" above track level. The construction of aswitch box is shown in Fig. 7. It consists of two contact rods with twocontact shoes 30 and 31 attached to the ends, which are similar but workindependent of each other. Attached to the top of the contact rod is thelever 38, which carries the spring brass contact piece 32 on a block ofinsulating material. The contact piece 32 is insulated from the lever38, and a binding post 36 is attached to the spring piece to makeconnections. The other lever 38 carries a similar contact piece 33.

On the front of a block of insulating material 35 is fastened a brassplate 34L. Both contact pieces 32 and 33 rest on 3 1 when contact rodsare down. The binding post 37 is attached to the lever 38 to makeconnections. The length of the contact springs 32 and 33 is such thatupon a rise of 1-- inches or more they will be off plate 34 and thecircuit between them will be broken. A short link 39 is placed betweenthe lever 38 and the standard to enable the contact rods to move in avertical line.

A throttle attachment is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. Bolted to thethrottle arm is the casting 46. Through a hole in casting 46 turns arod, on the top end of which is fastened the lever 47, on the other endthe lever 48, the levers 4:7 and 48 forming a bell crank. A pin 49 isplaced in the rod 51 which disengages throttle look when raised. Whenrod 50 is pulled it causes lever 47 to move lever 4-8 which inturn-raises rod 51 by pressing When lever 47 is pulled as far as the lug52 on casting 4:6 it can move lever 48 no farther, and the continuanceof the pull draws the unlocked throttle closed.

The pull necessary to close the throttle may be gotten by means of acylinder containing a piston 54: Fig. 11. "When compressed air enters at53, piston 5 L pushes over lever 55, which in turn pulls rod 50. Theother end ofthis rod 50 is attached to the end of lever 47 on throttlein Fig. 10. The short link 56 is to allow the piston to move in astraight line.

A valve box and signal light are shown "portion partly in section inFig. 12. It consists of the valves B and C Which are controlled by theelectro-magnet A. The

valve B operates the braking system of which operates the exhaust cockF; the

raising of the handle E also raises the lever 72 up to the magnetandresets the apparatus. The drawing shows the apparatus in thesetposition. Compressed air enters at 57 from the main reservoir (90 77lbs.) passes through air strainer Gr through pipes to valves 13 and C.At valve B the air passes through the hole in casting, around groove 59in piston, through other hole in casting, into chamber 63. The trainline pressure (7 0 lbs.) enters at 6% and passes into chamber Thepressure in the chamber 63 being greater than that in65 holds pistondown and keeps exhaust port 67 closed. The air from 57 cannot pass valveG as the solid of the piston is between the holes in the casting. WVhenthe circuit is broken on magnet A, lever 72, assisted by spring 71,falls and rests on top of disk 73. In doing so, the lever 72 causes theother levers attached to itto release valve B and raises piston in valveC. When the valve B is released, the spring 58 pushes piston out. Thesolid portion 60 then comes between the holes in the casting and cutsoff air supply to chamber 63. As the piston moves back, the point on endof piston moves out of exhaust port62, and the air thatis in chamber 63then escapes through the groove 61 cut in casting, and out port 62. Whenthe air pressure in chamber 63 falls below that of6'5, the piston 66raises and opens port 67, which applies the air-brakes. piston in valveC is raised, the grooved portion 68 has come between the holes in thecasting and allows air from 57 to pass through pipe 53 to the cylinderin Fig. 11, which closes the throttle.

Raising handle E causes 73 to raise and lifts 72 to magnet and returnsapparatus to original position. When reset, the

piston in valve C cuts 06:" air supply to throttle cylinder, and the airthat is in the cylinder escapes through groove 69 in casting, outexhaust port 70. The brakes can then be released and the throttle openedin the usual manner.

A light signal is shown at H, Fig. 12. A small box is constructed with ahole in it,

When the i tacle for electric lamp.

behind Which is a piece of frosted or ground glass. Inside the box is anordinary recep- The wire connections of the engine are shown in Fig. 5,in which A is the magnet in valve box; 20 is a battery; H is theelectric signal light; 22 and 23 are standard relays, and 40 representsthe switch box shown in Fig. 7.

When the train passes over 5 rail, Fig. 1, the contact shoes form acontact with it. If there be no current in the stop rail, circuit onmagnet A will be broken when the contact shoes are raised on reachingthe high level of the stop rail, and stop is elfected. If the blockahead is clear, current from 5 rail will pass through contact rod, upthrough relays 22 and 23, and return through other rod to other rail.Relay 23 then closes circuit on magnet and prevents circuit from beingbroken, and relay 22 closes circuit on signal light, which lights up andshows clear. As soon as train passes out of block, current will flowback to 6 rail and light signal in engine waiting there.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. In a train controlling device, the combination of a track comprisinga plurality of successive sections of substantially parallel railsinsulated from each other, a track circuit including a resistance andfour contact rails for each block; a train stopping means carried by avehicle upon a track, a clear indication light, a closed electriccontrol circuit, an electric magnet for holding inoperative the trainstopping means, said magnet included in the said control circuit, a pairof vehicle contacts, two switches included in said control circuit andactuated by the vehicle contacts, a normally deenergized relay includingcontacts controlling the vehicle control circuit, means whereby thenormally deenergized relay 'is energized by the track circuit currentwhen the vehicle contacts engage the contact rails when the block aheadis clear.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe 2. In a train controlling device, the combination of a trackcomprising a plurality of-successive sections of substantially parallelrails insulated from each other, two positive and two negative contactrails for each block, a resistance in series with these rails; a trainstopping means carried by a vehicle upon a track, an indication light, aclosed electric control circuit, an electric control magnet forcontrolling the train stopping means, said control magnet included insaid control circuit, vehicle contact means, two mechanically operatedswitches connected in the control circuit and actuated by the contactmeans, an electrically operated switch including contacts controllingthe vehicle control circuit and normally separated, a track circuitincluding a resistance, the contact rails and the transit rails, meansfor sending the track circuit current through the contact rails to thevehicle contacts to close the contacts of the electrically operatedswitch controlling the vehicle circuit, when the vehicle contacts engagethe contact rails when the block ahead is clear.

3. In a train controlling device, a train stopping means, means forcontrolling the operation of same, said means comprising a closedelectric control circuit carried by a vehicle upon a track, a controlmagnet in cluded in said control circuit, a pair of mechanicallyoperated circuit breakers for breaking said control circuit, anelectrically operated switch adapted when energized to shunt out thecontacts of said circuit breakers, the contacts of said electricallyoperated switch normally separated, a track circuit comprising aresistance, tour contact rails and the transit rails connected inseries, the current of said track circuit adapted to close the contactsof the electrically operated switch when the vehicle contacts engage thecontact rails when the block ahead is clear.

HARRY WISE RICHARDS. l/Vitnesses:

A. W. Bnvnnmcn, 'C. MILTON DICKERSON.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

